The Washington & Lee and University of Virginia Telescope
Debate

There
is still considerable uncertainty and confusion about the exact circumstances
that led Leander McCormick to present his twenty-six inch refracting telescope
to the University of Virginia. The pieces of this puzzle consist mainly
of newspaper articles and correspondences throughout the post Civil War
period, approximately from 1867 to 1878 when he formally offered the telescope
to the Rector and Board of Visitors at UVa.

The
McCormick family has always been held in the highest esteem in its
native Rockbridge County in western Virginia. Viewed as the local
celebrities, local papers such as the Lexington Gazette noted donations
made by the McCormick brothers to institutions in the area, including
Washington College which became Washington and Lee University, and
announced their occasional visits to their family homestead to visit
family and old friends. It came as no surprise that Leander J. McCormick
was considering Washington College as a possible location for the
donation of what would have been the largest refracting telescope in the
world. McCormick and Washington College president, Robert E. Lee, were
acquaintances who exchanged occasional letters and sent each other books
and newspapers to keep one another abreast of the happenings in their
respective locations. They had begun correspondence by 1868. Exactly
when McCormick first mentioned the possibility of donating the telescope
to Washington College to Lee is unknown.

In
January 1870, seven trustees of Washington College each pledged $1000 to
the endowment of an astronomical observatory, including college president
Lee. This might indicate that they had knowledge of McCormick's conditions
for the donation of the telescope, which consisted of the raising of funds
for the building of the observatory and the funds to purchase necessary
equipment and hire a proper staff to use the telescope for research.

Colonel
Charles S. Venable served as a mathematics professor at the University
of Virginia for over thirty years following his service for the Confederate
Army in the Civil War. Venable served on Lee's staff during the war and
it is possible that Venable learned of McCormick's offer through Lee. It
is also possible that McCormick began considering the University of Virginia
after corresponding with Joseph Henry at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
D. C. In either case, Venable had been in contact with McCormick by May
1870 attempting to determine what would convince McCormick to donate the
telescope to the University of Virginia. In spring of 1869, UVa Rector,
Benjamin Barbour, had sought information on the costs involved and benefits
possibly derived from constructing an astronomical observatory. Though
he made no mention of McCormick's offer, it suggests that he may have known
of Venable's correspondences with McCormick.

Though
McCormick had made no formal commitment to Washington College, the trustees
of the college seemed confident that they could raise the funds and secure
the donation of the telescope. Over the course of the summer and fall of
1870, the Trustees formed several committees to correspond with McCormick,
to begin raising the estimated $100,000 it would take to properly endow
the observatory and to help secure the donation for Washington College
in any way possible. They carefully articulated that, at that time, McCormick
had still not committed himself to the selection of their institution,
but they continued to act with confidence. President Lee died in the spring
of that year and the name of the institution was changed to Washington
and Lee University in October 1870. In the spring of 1871, the Trustees
formed a committee to select a site for the telescope.

By
late 1870, the Lexington Gazette had picked up the possibility of McCormick's
donation and kept track of it for much of the next decade. Interviews of
McCormick's family still located in Rockbridge County and unnamed "reliable
sources" from Washington and Lee fueled occasional newsclips and furthered
the belief that Lexington would soon be receiving the finest telescope
in the country. The Gazette also ran stories from Chicago and New York
papers mentioning the construction and future donation of McCormick's telescope.
The Gazette reported having seen the plans of the proposed observatory
at the home of Washington & Lee trustee J. D. Davidson, though it is
unclear what plans had been drawn up at that point.

The
Great Chicago Fire on 1871 proved a major set back for the McCormicks,
who lost their entire factory and as well as their homes. The Lexington
Gazette reported that Leander McCormick had not allowed work on the telescope
to cease, but some accounts claim that the telescope McCormick originally
commissioned went to the U. S. Naval Observatory and then after recovering
from the fire, he reordered the lenses for the telescope to be ground by
Alvan Clark & Sons in 1876.

The
next major mention of the telescope occurred in June 1877 when Washington
& Lee Trustees met, concluded that McCormick had again intimated his
intention of donating the telescope to Washington & Lee and trustee
James D. Davidson moved that official words of appreciation be sent to
McCormick and their official acceptance of the gift. Unfortunately for
Washington & Lee, their enthusiasm extended itself a little too soon.

The
following December 17th, Leander McCormick wrote making his formal offer
of the Clark twenty-six inch refracting telescope to the University of
Virginia. The following day the Lexington Gazette published an article
describing continuing efforts to raise the necessary endowment for the
telescope. The following two months produced much debate as the reality
of what happened slowly came to light at Washington & Lee University.

Early
in January 1878, a Boston dispatch picked up by the Lexington Gazette reported
that Cyrus McCormick was no longer giving the telescope to Washington and
Lee because they were unable to provide funds, so he planned to grant it
to another higher education institution in Virginia. The Gazette immediately
refuted the article, starting with the fact that it was Leander, not Cyrus,
McCormick who intended to donate the telescope. The Gazette declared that
the telescope would be located in Lexington, "despite the endeavors
of jealous rivals to defeat that purpose. But whether recognized or not,
a suitable building will be erected here for the generous gift of our distinguisehd
countyman, Mr. L. J. McCormick, who no doubt smiles at these efforts through
the press to influence him in the bestowal of his gifts." Unfortunately
for Washington & Lee and residents of Lexington, the newspaper was
unaware of the offer made to and accepted by the University of Virginia.

The
following week, Leander McCormick sent a letter to Washington & Lee
trustee James D. Davidson, requesting that he set the trustees straight
on what had transpired between the two of them and why he had elected to
donate the telescope to UVa. McCormick wrote of conversations he had with
Davidson in which Davidson described the dire financial situation of Washingon
& Lee and how Davidson believed that no Virginia institution would
be able to raise the necessary funds given the financial difficulties of
the whole region that characterized the South of the Reconstruction Era.
McCormick reiterated his desire to locate the telescope in Lexington, thought
that after their conversations that it would be impossible and McCormick
spoke with Col. Venable shortly thereafter, who argued that $30,000 could
be raised through the State Legislature, with further funds being donated
by alumni and the University. McCormick had also replied to a letter from
General Lilley, another Washington & Lee trustee hoping to determine
what it would take to secure the donation, and told him that he had already
granted the telescope to UVa.

Meanwhile,
the University of Virginia wasted no time going to the State Legislature
in search of funding. The Lexington Gazette accused UVa in a February 1st
editorial of trying to undermine Washington & Lee's efforts to acquire
the telescope. General Lilley immediately began a campaign to hold McCormick
accountable for claims he made of giving the telescope to Lexington and
sought accounts from people who had read telegrams or letters from McCormick
mentioning the telescope.

Davidson
replied to McCormick's letter by arguing that he had spoken to McCormick
as a friend and not as a representative of Washington & Lee. Regardless,
Davidson agreed to present McCormick's letter to the Board of Trustees
and maintained that he thought it best that McCormick know the true nature
of Washington & Lee's financial situation.

A
writer for the Lexington Gazette attempted to quell anger by reporting
that it was better for a neighboring Virginia institution to receive than
a Northern university. The Lexington Gazette continued to hope that the
telescope was on its way to Lexington, particularly after the State Legislature
denied UVa any funds at the beginning of March 1878. Southern Collegian,
a Lexington collegiate newspaper, chastised McCormick for having offered
the telescope to the University of Virginia without any notification to
Washington & Lee University officials. By this time, it was a moot
point. The University of Virginia had already begun its fundraising effort
and was well on its way to receiving the telescope.

The
last official word on the matter at Washington & Lee University was
at the Board of Trustees meeting on June 25, 1878, where Davidson read
the correspondence between McCormick and himself, which was entered into
the record and closed the discussion of an astronomical observatory at
Washington & Lee University.